Last year, Google tested an interesting brand activation and experiential marketing campaign. The search engine giant took its Chromecast and Chromecast Audio streaming products to the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Village music festival and the Outside Lands festival in San Fransisco to increase awareness about and affinity towards the products.
The Outside Lands live music event attracted about 212,000 people, making it one of the largest in the country. This year’s event saw more than 100 artists performing including Lana Del Rey, J. Cole, LCD Soundsystem, Lionel Richie, Radiohead, and Duran Duran. The event was very tech-focused, with all food and drink vendors, as well as merchandise stands, accepting payments through PayPal. There were also R.F.I.D.-enabled wristbands that event attendees wore to get access to the weekend-long show, as well as a digital wallet option that guests could use.
Google had a Chromecast Audio GIF Booth where people could use audio-reactive lighting to create images to the music of the musicians that were performing at the event. Video projection screens on the festival grounds showed GIFS that were created in the booths.
“What made this experiential marketing campaign work really well is that it gave guests their VIP moment on the big screen by showing the GIFS that they created themselves. This type of initiative really appeals to the millennial market and more brands should consider how they can boost engagement by connecting digital tools and technology with trending events,” comments Greg Martin from Tradeway.
The experience was a true showcase of the magic consumers witnessed when they saw content move from the small to big screen. Select music artists performing at Outside Lands and YouTube Creators also stopped by the space to meet with fans and rock out with them in the GIF booth.
Other unique brand activations at the event included StubHub’s #NoMoFoMo tent, where free drinks were offered.
“We were walking by and they offered us free drinks and we said, ‘Yes, absolutely,’ especially since drinks here are too expensive. I use StubHub to buy tickets all the time and today we were just wandering around and walked in,” said Zupkow, who is from Novato, Calif to the Latimes.com. The company said that they hoped millennial attendees would check out what they have to offer, and the Fear of Missing Out campaign worked.
“We are really trying to activate millennials and bring them to our brand. We look at the experience as a festival within the festival. It helps elevate us from a ticketing company to an entertainment brand,” said Justin Finn, head of event marketing for StubHub.
These are just a few ways that brands are tapping into millennial trends and technology. Contact Tradeway for brand activations and experiential marketing campaigns in South Africa.